Date of birth: 11/07/1880

Place of birth: Swanscombe, Kent, England, United Kingdom

Profession: Portland cement millers assistant

Country: England, United Kingdom

Force: British Expeditionary Force

Rank: Private

Service number: 202672

Enlistment place: Gravesend, Kent, England, United Kingdom

Units:  —  Royal Sussex Regiment, 13th Bn.  (Last known unit)

Date of death: 31/07/1917

Place of death: West of Sint-Juliaan (28.C.17.c.7.9.), Belgium

Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.)

Age: 37

British War Medal Medal

Victory Medal Medal

Pte Charles William John Finch was part of the 13th battalion Royal Sussex Regiment, 116th Brigade, 39th Division. On the first day of the Battle of Passchendaele, 31 July 1917, his battalion, aided by two of the eight tanks used by the division, captured St Julien and took several prisoners. The next day due to heave counter attacks they were forced to withdraw from St Julien to the east bank of the Steenbeek. During this attack, Charles must have died between the first and second objective, between Mouse Trap Farm and Corner Cottage. His body was probably buried where he fell (28.C.17.c.7.9.) and was later reburied in New Irish Farm Cemetery where he found his last resting place.

13 Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment (The National Archives, KEW (TNA), WO 95/2582/3) http://nationalarchives.gov.uk Sources used

McCarthy, Chris. Passchendaele: the Day-by-Day Account. (Londen: Unicorn Publishing Group, 2018), p 26-27. Sources used

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/452306

Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=58a0228d-1434-4213-94f4-72ec8cafb6ec

Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/1237385